Philadelphia Soul

This article is about the arena football team. For the music genre, see Philadelphia soul.

Philadelphia Soul
Founded	2004
League	AFL (2004–2008, 2011–present)
Conference	American
Division	East
Team history	Philadelphia Soul (2004–2008, 2011–present)
Arena	Spectrum 2004-2008 Wells Fargo Center 2004–present
Based in	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Team colors	Blue, black, white
Owner(s)	Ron Jaworski, Craig Spencer, Pete Ciarrocchi, Cosmo DeNicola
Head coach	Clint Dolezel
Championships	1: (2008)
Division titles	2: (2008, 2012)
Dancers	The Soulmates
Mascot	Soul Man
Website	http://www.philadelphiasoul.com/

The Philadelphia Soul are an Arena Football League team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They began play in 2004 as an expansion team. The team plays in the Eastern Division of the American Conference. They won their first ArenaBowl in 2008, defeating the San Jose SaberCats 59–56 in ArenaBowl XXII. The Soul won 13 games and lost 3 in the 2008 regular season, as well as winning three playoff games, including ArenaBowl XXII. After two seasons of inactivity in 2009 and 2010, they returned in 2011 under new head coach Mike Hohensee.

History

The team was owned by co-majority owners Jon Bon Jovi and Craig Spencer along with minority owners Richie Sambora, Ron "Jaws" Jaworski (former QB of the NFL's Philadelphia Eagles) and Leo Carlin, Jr. The Soul began play in February 2004, and played its home games at the Wells Fargo Center (then known as the Wachovia Center), home of the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League and the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association. When there was a scheduling conflict with the NBA or NHL, games were played at the now-demolished Wachovia Spectrum—the former home of the Flyers, 76ers, Philadelphia Phantoms AHL hockey team and the Philadelphia KiXX MISL soccer franchise. The Soul played in the Eastern Division of the National Conference of the AFL. The name "Soul" referred to the Philadelphia soul music genre, as the team was owned in part by musician Jon Bon Jovi. The official mascot of the Soul was the Blues Brother-like "Soul Man".

In 2005, the Soul began the season by beating the Austin Wranglers 66–35. However, after five games, the Soul had two wins and three losses, which led to the firing of head coach Michael Trigg.

Critics say that the Soul erred that off-season when they made Tony Graziani the highest-paid player in Arena League history. The move left them with little money under the salary cap to improve their defense, and as a result, they were not in competition for the playoffs. The elimination came even after NBC scheduled 14 games of the Soul to be shown on national or regional television.

In 2006, the Soul began 2–0. They went 2–0 against division rival Dallas Desperados (who finished a league best 13–3), and finished the season at 9–7 and earned their first playoff berth through the wild card. In their wild card playoff game, the Soul defeated the Austin Wranglers in Austin, 52–35. The score was 21–21 at halftime, but the #5 seed Soul outscored the #4 Wranglers 21–7 in the third quarter and ran away with the game. The Soul lost their Divisional Round Playoff game 31–27 to the Orlando Predators in the infamous "round of golf", so-called because viewers missed much of the 1st quarter of that game and another AFL game being broadcasted simultaneously due to a PGA Golf tournament that was televised on NBC.

The Soul started 4–0 in 2007 before losing to the Georgia Force, 57–49. Afterwards, they lost on a Monday night contest to their division rival, the Dallas Desperados, 51–41. In the game, Tony Graziani left the game early with a separated left shoulder from a sack by OL/DL Rickie Simpkins. He would miss the next four weeks, all losses, dropping the team to 4–6. Graziani returned in week 12 against the New Orleans VooDoo and led the team to its highest scoring output in its short franchise history, winning 78–34. In a Week 16 "win-and-in" matchup with the Columbus Destroyers, Graziani led the Soul down the field and threw a touchdown pass to Charles Pauley with seven seconds left, giving the Soul a 56–53 win and their second trip to the playoffs in their four-year history. In the playoffs, they defeated the Orlando Predators 41–26, then traveled to Atlanta to take on the Georgia Force in the Divisional Round, but lost 65–39.

In 2008, the Soul signed WR Chris Jackson in the off-season. He was united with a former teammate in Tony Graziani. In the offseason the Soul were picked by many as the favorite to win the championship. However after another good start, once again Graziani was injured. He was replaced by Matt D'Orazio. Unlike previous years, in 2008 the Soul backup was able to keep the team going. He played well enough that when Graziani was healthy once more, the coaching staff decided to allow D'Orazio to keep the starting job. The Soul finished the 2008 season with a 13–3 record and earned a first-round bye. In the divisional round the Soul defeated the New York Dragons. In the conference finals the Soul were able to defeat the Cleveland Gladiators to earn their first berth to the ArenaBowl. They then won their first ArenaBowl on Sunday, July 27, 2008 in a 59–56 win over the San Jose SaberCats in ArenaBowl XXII.

The team suspended operations along with the rest of the Arena Football League in 2009.

On February 17, 2010, the Arena Football League extended an offer to the Soul to make a return to arena football. That offer was accepted, as the Soul returned in 2011 playing all their home games at the then-recently renamed Wells Fargo Center. Jaworski and Spencer returned from the prior ownership group, and Pete Ciarrocchi (owner of local sports bar Chickie's and Pete's) and Cosmo DeNicola (who was the owner of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers from the now-defunct af2 league) joined the new Soul's ownership. Notably absent is Jon Bon Jovi, who cited his group's tour as a reason for declining ownership, but still maintains his support for the Soul and their new ownership. Despite high expectations, the Soul stumbled out of the gate and never recovered, finishing just 6–12, last place in the East.

In 2012, the Soul began the season with new head coach Doug Plank. They finished the regular season with the league's best record at 15–3. They would advance to ArenaBowl XXV, but lost to the Arizona Rattlers 72–54. Less than a week later, Plank announced his resignation.

Logo and uniforms

The Soul logo is a music note with a white football inside. Their original home jersey was a dark grey, and the road jersey was white. After experimenting with white and silver helmets during the 2004 Preseason, they adopted a dark grey helmet. In 2008, they introduced a blue alternate jersey PHL on the chest and grey pants. The blue jersey was worn throughout the entire 2008 playoffs, including ArenaBowl XXII. However, the blue jerseys did not return when the Soul returned in 2011. On March 13, 2012 the Soul unveiled a modified version of their blue jerseys to become their new home jerseys and matching white road jerseys, as well as a powder blue helmet for their road uniforms.

Current roster

Philadelphia Soul roster
Quarterbacks -- Dustin Almond  5 Dan Raudabaugh Fullbacks  4 Derrick Ross Wide receivers  1 Larry Brackins 11 Tiger Jones 19 Ryan McDaniel 15 Alvance Robinson 81 Andrae Thurman		Offensive linemen 55 Brennen Carvalho 72 Sioeli Fakalata 78 Christian Johnson 95 Jason Jones Defensive linemen 99 Morkeith Brown -- Tyron Hurst 54 Ko Quaye 12 Bryan Robinson		Linebackers 92 Calvin Fance 18 Joe Goosby  6 Brandon Perkins Defensive backs  7 Rayshaun Kizer 28 David Richardson 24 James Romain 23 LaRico Stevenson Kickers 13 Carlos Martinez		Injured reserve  8 Dustin Barno DL League suspension -- Chris Frank LB Other League Exempt  9 Kent Richardson DB Refuse to Report Currently vacant Recallable reassignment Currently vacant Rookies in italics Roster updated May 22, 2013 24 Active, 3 Inactive → More rosters

Franchise highlights

One of the Philadelphia Soul's endzones.

• On Sunday, February 13, 2005, in a week three home game against the Nashville Kats, quarterback Tony Graziani would throw for six touchdowns. One of those touchdown's came on a third quarter play from their own five-yard line. Graziani got the snap, tripped over his own fullback's foot, and threw a 45-yard touchdown pass to OS Steve Smith off his own knee. The Soul would go on to win the game. It appeared in The Best Damn Sports Show Period's Top 50 Spectacular Plays.
• On Saturday, April 24, 2004, the Soul were trailing to the New York Dragons by a point with 1.3 seconds left in the fourth quarter. The Soul had the ball at their own two-yard line. Ken Hinsley kicked a field goal from the back of the endzone which just barely made it over the crossbar as the buzzer went off, winning the game for the Soul 60–58.
• Since its inception, the Philadelphia Soul has been deeply involved in the community. In 2006, The Philadelphia Soul Foundation was formed to further the organization's commitment to the Philadelphia area. Former President Bill Clinton joined Soul majority owner Jon Bon Jovi on stage to announce a project that would rehab 15 townhouses in North Philadelphia. Scheduled to open in November 2007, the homes will also be eco-friendly, not only saving money for its new tenants, but improving the environment as well.
• On Saturday, July 12, 2008, the Philadelphia Soul defeated the Cleveland Gladiators 70–35 in the AFL National Conference Title game, earning their first ever ArenaBowl berth in Arena Bowl XXII.
• On Sunday, July 27, 2008, the Philadelphia Soul defeated the San Jose SaberCats in Arenabowl XXII, 59–56, capturing their first Arena Bowl championship.

Season-by-season

Main article: List of Philadelphia Soul seasons

Preceded by San Jose SaberCats 2007

ArenaBowl Champions Philadelphia Soul 2008

Succeeded by Spokane Shock 2010

Coaches

Head coach	Tenure	Regular season record (W–L)	Post season record (W–L)	Most recent coaching staff	Notes
Michael Trigg	2004–2005	7–14	0–0
James Fuller	2005	4–7	0–0
Bret Munsey	2006–2008	30–18	5–2	Assis. Head Coach: Jerry Odom OC: Connell Maynor DL Coach / Head Player Personnel: Mickey Mays	1x ArenaBowl winning coach (XXII)
Mike Hohensee	2011	6–12	0–0
Doug Plank	2012	15–3	2–1	Leroy Thompson

External links

• Official website